Screws or Rivets
 

replacing some areas of the floor in the XJ.

I'll go take a picture in a minute, but not doing any work in the rear, just where the passenger's feet go on the front floorboards.


so my question is...

I have a lot of sheet metal screws. can these work ok? will it hold there fine? obviously welding would ideal, but no can do.

i dont have a rivet gun either, but would these be better than screws by far? or should i (at least semi temporarily) be ok with just sheet metal screws?

To me, anything short of welding is temporary. But if I were to never have access to a welder, rivets would be my route

go with rivets screws can back out aftertime. another route is auto body appoxe that stuff holds good

No screws please..

I took in a clutch job for a guy years ago on an XJ. He had used a ton of sheetmetal screws to patch his floor. After a few minor cuts i finally cut the hell out of my hand on one... i packed up the tools and had him tow it out of my driveway.

Rivets. They won't back out, and they're easier to seal.

Besides, they're designed for holding panels in place anyhow (why for do you think they're used on aircraft and race bodies? I know - they're not "pop" rivets. But, they work on the same principle - the difference is that a "pop" rivet can be installed entirely from one side of a panel, and they don't require a pneumatic hammer and a bucking bar to install.)

Besides, if y'ever brought something to me for undercar work, and I saw a bunch of sheetmetal screws sticking out the bottom, I wouldn't even bother to start the job.

Rivits, I would think the screws would be a proublem working under the jeep, lots of scratches

Rivets would definitely be the best route if you don't have a welder. You can go to any hardware store and pick up a riveter and rivets for under $20.

alright guys, looks like i'll be doing rivets.

good points about them poking through underneath and backing out eventually.



so now my question is, can i rivet through the unibody? or just sheet metal to sheet metal?

my dad seems to think i can go through the unibody and that it'll totally work, but should i do it?

You can rivet through the horizontal lip on the unirail... lay down a bead of adhesive first.

Drill the holes from under... install the rivet from the top.

nice, exactly what i needed.

thanks for the knowledge!

I'll get some pics up or start a build thread or something and show you guys my holes haha.

rivets...definately

im using rivits for my rear floor. im putting down 1/4 aluminum sheeting

whoah... 1/4 inch?? why so thick?

i'm using 14 gauge, which is like 0.07 inches thick (about 1/13th inches)

looks like what they used originally was 18 gauge or so.

I would like to see the pictures when your finished Cherokee. I have one rusted through area above the muffler. Right Now I have a sheet rtv sealed and rivted but needs to be redone. It was a temp winter fix.

If you are going to waste your time anyway then just use pl500. I mean anything you do short of welding is just a temp fix so why waste a lot of time on it

Well if I was replacing the entire pan, I would say welding would be the only option. But I am only patching certain areas, and I personally think the rivets will suffice for my amount of abuse to the vehicle.

and, though temporary when shaded by welding, how much life span are we talking about in difference between pl500 and rivets? I would probably say the pl500 had a much lower strength rating than rivets would.

anyone have any experience with them to compare?